What Lies In The Darkness
by Mama Wolf Pack
Summary: Strings of seemingly unrelated deaths. A rise in missing persons, and the ascension of a group not all that happy with everything the Avatar stands for. As Republic City rises from the rubble, so too do those that lurk in the shadows.
1. Prologue

_Orderly chaos._

An oxymoron and the best one to describe the affairs and new day to day life in the rebuilding city. Slowly but surely debris was cleared, buildings were inspected and declared structurally sound or torn down ready to be rebuilt anew.

 _Orderly chaos._

From the destruction came life. Spirits flitted in and around the new portal, vines wrapped intricately around the crack strewn roads and structures forcing new and inventive ways for earth bender workers and the engineers that oversaw them all to work around and with them.

There were those that weren't happy with the decision. Since their initial appearance the spirits and vines have always been a controversial topic. There were those who liked them and those who didn't, not everyone can be pleased.

And with all the focus on recreating infrastructure and providing basic amenities to civilians trickling back into their war torn home, none noticed what lay in between the cracks where no light could reach.

In the aftermath of any large scale battles and mass exodus, it can be expected that friends and families are split apart.

As people returned, surfaces around the city became littered with posters, each adorning a face or multiple of those they have lost.

Day by day, their numbers only grew.

And there was no stopping it.


	2. And So It Begins

It was times like these when Asami despised her position as the rebuild project senior manager. Sitting through a tense and long winded meeting while facing off with regional governmental representatives whose intentions were unclear to her as they hashed and re-hashed the particulars of the city's progress and future plans were growing increasingly wearisome.

 _Ugh, give me my shock glove now please_ , the engineer blinked, _damn it Korra, I spend too much time with you these days… not that I'm complaining or anything…_ Truthfully, with their vacation over Asami yearned for the closeness they shared in the spirit world but alas, their respective duties kept the two apart for the better part of most days.

While the war fought with bending was over, the war of political maneuvering had only just begun. With President Raiko's 4-year presidential term coming to an end and word reaching the public of his quick surrender to Kuvira's rule, it seemed unlikely he would be re-elected leaving the powerful position all but free for other contenders – _more like vultures_ the engineer thought– to fight over it.

Ju Shen, one such politician managed to rub her the wrong way the moment she spoke aloud. It must have been her polished and suave way of speaking that made her seem very agreeable or the way she seemed to be eternally happy with her half-smirk/half-smile and fluttering eyelashes. Or, it could be the comment concerning the new crater in the heart of the city and how "once again we are left to deal with the consequences of the young Avatar's brash actions…" that made her wanting to _zap_ the perpetual smirk/smile and mascara off her face.

"The Avatar, like many of us that night, nearly died defending this city –the city that my father sacrificed his _life_ to protect– and where were you through it all? Sitting in your office admiring the pretty colours outside or were you miles away without a care in the world?" The engineer all but growled as she stared the older woman down.

"The very same Hiroshi Sato that aided the Equalist terrorist group that only brought the city to its knees?" Ju Shen asked pleasantly, sharp amber eyes opened wide, the picture of innocence and curiosity and ignoring the jibe towards herself.

Asami prepared to rise but was halted by the firm hand of Varrick upon her arm. As CEO of Varrick Global Industries, he was an integral part of the city's rebuild effort much like Future Industries and is thereby required to attend the torturous meetings. The younger woman exhaled slowly to compose herself before nodding once at the moustached man who then lowered his hand.

Ju Shen watched the exchange between the two before cocking her head slightly and smiled sweetly once more. "My sincerest apologies Ms. Sato I had no intention to cause you grief, I was out of line."

The engineer nodded slowly and breathed in deeply once more in an effort to keep a cool head while the other occupants of the room shifted in mild discomfort at the exchange.

"Thank you." _Was that convincingly sincere enough?_

President Raiko awkwardly cleared his throat in an attempt to regain control of the meeting and steer the talks to safer waters, the heiress noticed a slight scowl adorning his features sent her way. _Yes Raiko, that was a jab at you too._

Thankfully, the rest of the meeting went without much further potentially explosive arguments but it was clear the city plans that focused on integrating and accommodating the spirits did not go down well with others, most particularly Ju Shen herself. Subjects such as those, _and they cropped up often what with the really obvious spirit portal in the crater_ , only welcomed more debate leaving the young CEO wanting nothing more than to tear her hair out or bash a few narrow-minded heads in. _Ugh, I'm channelling Korra again_.

The meeting finally concluded some delegates all but sprinted out of the conference room, desperate to get away from the intensity of the talks.

With a final glance at Ju Shen, noting that those who were left in the room either watching or waiting for the ever-poised woman were the ones that seemed most vexed by her plans, Asami headed outside to her waiting motor. _Were all of those people with her? That's a lot of influence for one governor of a small region… and to be elected as a representative in the first place shows she already has people backing her… and with elections coming soon, this is becoming more and more worrisome._

The quick-fire thoughts buzzing through her mind trickled off as she put her Sato-mobile in gear. She had an Avatar to find.

After the initial scramble stage of 'what do we do with everyone now that they're back?', 'where do we start?', and 'where to from here?' each of which was a battle in itself to please and accommodate everyone's conflicting views and interests, the war torn city settled into a state of relative normalcy.

Normalcy where displaced citizens woke from thin cots inside temporary shelters and had communal meals from RCPD prison transport trucks repurposed (courtesy of Future Industries) to serve as mobile kitchens and go about their day salvaging what they safely can from the ruins of their city as earthbender workers slowly but surely made their way through clearing the rubble from the battle.

Normalcy. _Routine._

Minor blips in the 'routine' over the past few days mostly involved a few looters looking for easy pickings though found themselves quickly squashed by the Police Chief and her forces, the disgruntled citizen having a go at unruly spirits _"lollygagging around my property"_ and on rarer and more serious occasions, benders and non-benders alike taking matters into their own hands and trying to remove the spirit vines themselves resulting in the vine coming back with a vengeance and causing more damage to the already stricken city inciting the people to retaliate with more gusto by which then the Avatar would arrive and intervene before things truly got out of hand.

After one such incident and another major disaster averted that day, out of sight of any on-lookers, Korra let her shoulders slump and arms slacken as she trudged through the deserted main road, glider staff in tow. Two weeks after the attack, tensions were beginning to rise and tempers ready to blow.

The tribeswoman looked at the desolate street. All was quiet except for the flap of paper as a blissfully cool breeze blew.

The sound becoming a constant and haunting reminder of what was missing. _Two weeks and still no word as to where all these people are,_ 'these' referring to the faces on the posters around her, their eyes following her, _judging her,_ as if asking her why she hadn't found them, _why she hasn't brought them home_ although that may be the exhaustion and the printed words ' **MISSING/HAVE YOU SEEN HER/HIM/THEM?** ' finally getting to her. The Avatar sighed and shook her head in frustration before rolling her shoulders in preparation to take to the skies when something stopped her.

Instinctively, she tensed and strained her senses.

She spun on the balls of her feet raising her staff as she sank low into an air bending stance, prepared to evade in any direction in case of an attack.

All she was met with was the same view of the same empty street with missing persons posters flapping in the wind, and yet she still felt eyes watching her.

She spun again, this time she stood tall, feet apart and glider staff in her right hand, her left outstretched before her a ball of flame in hand casting a light in the dimming street. _I definitely heard something this time_ , but what?

The Avatar cautiously approached where she believed the noise came from, taking a deep breath before she turned the corner into the alley only to be met with…

… more nothing.

The dim alley was the same as the main street, rubbish and rubble strewn but not another soul in sight.

And yet, the tribeswoman had the nagging feeling a malevolent force was close, almost like it was breathing against the back of her neck. She craned her head around just to make sure there wasn't anyone there _and yep, just me. I'm not losing it again am I? Or is this because I skipped lunch?_ Korra shook her head and prayed to whatever mind-reading _nice_ spirit there was that it was the latter.

A very late lunch/dinner date with one Asami Sato never seemed more appealing to the Avatar until that very moment _if that were at all even possible_. Casting one last wary look at the quickly darkening alley, Korra involuntarily shivered at the cold breeze that swept past her exposed shoulders and neck before taking two quick steps away and smartly snapping her staff open and taking to the skies.

The wrong feeling never left.


End file.
